Behind the mask Sophomores step into spotlight at masquerade dance
Christine Tao Arts Editor
Colorful lights flashed across the Nicholas Athletic Center (NAC) as music pulsed from the DJ booth and the scent of cookies, candy and pizza floated through the air. Sophomores in sleek dresses and pressed shirts streamed through the doors, each handed a sparkling mask that matched the night’s theme: masquerade. The NAC had been trans-
formed – streamers draped over the walls, tables glowed with strings of lights and students crowded a photobooth framed by glitter and velvet.
“Last year, the sophomores had their first dance in a long time,”
Whitney Pecoraro ’27, a member of the Sophomore Dance Committee, said. “I think it’s great to get everyone together and have fun.” This year, members of the student-led committee organized another soph-
Freedom with fine print Students
omore dance May 17.
Whitney said the committee settled on a masquerade theme after considering a few options.
“Masquerade is a nice theme where it’s not too strict about dress code, but there are also good decorations. There’s a clear vibe, but everyone can do whatever they want and dress however they want.”
CONTINUED ON PAGE 8
APUSH-ing too hard?
Students intensify AP self-studying
In 2024, Upper School (US) students took 473 AP exams, including 20 taken by students not enrolled in AP classes who prepared largely on their own, excluding students who took the AP U.S. History (APUSH) exam. This year, there were 486 AP exams taken, including 41 that students took without enrolling in the AP class. US students and teachers recognized both the advantages and challenges of self-studying.
For US Science Teacher Rachel Riemer, self-studying for AP exams means skimming over the top of a course’s content.
“If you’re just trying to ace an exam or take an exam without having taken the appropriate course that goes with it, I think you’re doing yourself a disservice in terms of the depth of learning,” she said.
Students should concentrate on the classes they are currently taking.
“Be the best version of yourself in the classes you’re in because that’s more important than self-studying for an exam in a course that you’re not in,” she said.
Studying for the AP Physics test is not the same as taking the class, Ms. Riemer said.
“There’s a whole unit that we don’t cover in Honors Physics that the AP one includes, so students never really learned the material. They learned tricks and formulas to memorize, but they didn’t know the concepts.”
AP exam scores can intensify already competitive academics, Ms. Riemer said.
CONTINUED ON PAGE 5
break sign-out rules, risk off-campus privileges
Leah Cooper Contributing Writer
Students stroll through the Upper School (US) hallways balancing trays of Starbucks refreshers as they return to class from off-campus trips. But, first, these students must visit Assistant to the Dean of Students Kerri Anne Shea’s office.
US students who leave campus are required to sign out and sign back in upon their return. Ms. Shea explained the reasoning behind these rules.
“We live in a crazy world; you don’t know what’s going to happen any day, having kids leave campus,” she said. “Signing in and out is really important, and a lot of kids don’t realize it’s a safety concern.”
According to Ms. Shea, US students don’t take the process seriously enough.
“I wish kids were more responsible about signing in and out.”
For those who break the rules, there are consequences.
“If you go off campus and don’t sign out, you may lose your off-campus privileges,” Ms. Shea said. “It could be up to two weeks, but it depends on the situation. If it is something that has been repeatedly told of you, it could be longer.”
The off-campus rules vary by grade. While seniors can leave at any time in the day as long as they don’t have classes or commitments, juniors can only leave after 11:15 a.m. Sophomores may leave between their academic day and sports, and freshmen do not have any off-campus privileges.
CONTINUED ON PAGE 7
Buckingham Browne & Nichols Upper School, Cambridge, Ma
Photo Courtesy of Niyam Badani
Ciel McGivern, Marina Kluzak, Kate Sullivan, Jack Williams, Jack Reinfeld and Will Sammons (all ’27) move in a conga line at the sophomore dance.
Mimi Shaywitz On Campus Editor
Staff Photo by Olivia Richter Students leave the US with ordered Starbucks drinks.
Editorials
Leading for the right reasons
’Tis the season of graduating club leaders stepping down and leaving their positions to the new presidents of the 2025-26 school year. As these leaders assume their new positions, let’s take some time to reflect upon why we actually hold these roles.
There is no doubt our school is incredibly college-centered. As students, we often watch our classmates apply to become the president of five clubs, run for student council or participate in tons of community service (and more!), yet some choose to hold these roles for the sole purpose of benefiting their college applications. Holding so many leadership roles has its downsides, however.
First, students may be spreading themselves thin. As extracurricular responsibilities amass, leaders may sacrifice the state of one leadership position for another. It is your peers — some of whom look up to you — who are affected by your faltering leadership, too.
There are immense flaws in both the student-leader application and role-execution system that encourage this kind of competition and extracurricular-amassing-obsession among the student body.
Since students don’t receive grades for their performance as leaders, there is limited accountability, leading to stagnation within organizations. Underwhelming leadership is disappointing for an organization’s members.
The club-creation process is fundamentally imperfect, as well. With the current club-creation steps, it is easy for a student to begin their own club, slap it on their apps and subsequently meet once a year, creating no lasting impact within the school community. Each club requires a faculty leader, too, but this step feels unnecessary. Faculty advisors rarely play a role in small clubs, especially given that they are not being compensated for their roles, nor is the club significant to their larger purpose at the school. Most clubs are perfectly capable of being student-led, too, so the faculty advisor just feels like another checkbox.
Finally, when signing up to become a file reader or junior guide, among other positions, the applications require that the applicant list ALL of the organizations in which they are involved; this serves the purpose of selecting proficient student leaders with whom students can connect on multiple different levels. With the number of clubs and
Buckingham Browne & Nichols School 80 Gerry’s Landing Road Cambridge, MA 02138 vanguard@bbns.org, vanguard.bbns.org (617) 547-6100 Ext. 2171
Volume 54, Issue 2
Editor-in-Chief
Projects Editor Ayana Karthik
Opinions Editor Matthew Walsh
Editorials Editor
Sonja Peetz-Larsen
On Campus Editor
Mimi Shaywitz
Off Campus Editor
Lucia Longstreet-Lipson
Features Editor
Scarlett Hawkins
Sports Editor
Ethan Moran
Arts Editor
Gabe Cooper Managing Editor Yancheng Zhao
Christine Tao
Faculty Advisor Kim Whitney
Digital Media Editor Vartan Arakelian
Production Manager Carl Chen
Production Manager Charlotte Garrity
Asst. Production Manager Sydney Ruiz
Asst. Production Manager Harper Dubovik
Photo Editor Olivia Richter
Asst. Photo Editor Katy Varadi
The Vanguard’s mission is to examine and engage the school community by providing news and information about events affecting it and by featuring the diverse range of people and perspectives that comprise it. We strive for fairness and accuracy in our content, and we strive to present that content with integrity and respect.
The Vanguard is the official student newspaper of the Buckingham Browne & Nichols Upper School, which has 543 students, 96 faculty members, and 64 staff members. Affiliated with the Columbia Scholastic Press Association, the paper is a forum for differing views and welcomes comments from its readers in the form of Letters to the Editor. No anonymous letters will be printed. The Vanguard reserves the right to edit all letters for length. The Vanguard publishes eight issues per annual volume and prints between 500 and 800 copies of each issue. About 200 of those are mailed out; the rest are distributed around campus.
Fitzgerald Hung, Aparajita Srivastava, Alex Lev, Tillie Fischoeder, Hailey Jiang, David Xiong, Lucy Song, Annie Zhu, Finn Konary, Aggie Grant, Olivia Bell
Staff Photographers: Quentin Higgins, Emilia Khoury, Keenan Billings, Ash Surati, Caroline Dudzinski, Ryan Figlioli, Danny West, Shirley Zhu, Hailey Jiang, Yancheng Zhao, Gabe Cooper
Staff Artists:
Victoria Nassikas, Isabel Doricent, Lea Freiin Von Hilgers, Alice Wang, Lauren Li, Sydney Ruiz, Sydney Xu
organizations being the factor that allows a student to obtain a role of leadership, does this not encourage students to sign up for everything possible — despite their legitimate interests? Doesn’t this result in the same students holding all of the positions of leadership in the school, negatively impacting the school’s desire to create a well-rounded student body?
The school needs to establish some method of holding student leaders accountable for their actions. For example, if a student wishes to create their own club, they should have to endure more than just a Google Form in order to do so; their club should be required to meet a certain number of times per year, or they should have to check in with the school each month in order to ensure that they are continuing their cause. This will establish some sort of “grading” system for student leaders. Additionally, faculty advisors should not be a concrete requirement for a club, rather it should be a preference for a club to have one. It feels like another unnecessary step. Lastly, when a student applies for a position, their acceptance should not be staked upon the number of clubs or organizations in which they are involved, too; instead, they should be required to list the measurable changes that they have made within those organizations.
To the student body — if you genuinely want to be deeply involved, don’t let us stop you. Having so many passions is a gift. However, if you apply for a position of leadership, think about whether you are applying out of genuine interest or out of a desire to be appealing on a college application. In fact, holding one-hundred different leadership positions is not what colleges like to see, according to the Princeton Review: “While you … shouldn’t go out and join every single club your school offers, you should participate in a few well-chosen extracurricular activities,” it says. “Colleges like to see breadth but not at the expense of depth.”
If you go on to assume an impactful role in the future, consider how you are going to positively influence your peers, and make plans to execute these changes. Perform your role like you’re being graded on it. And, in the wise words of Ron Swanson of “Parks and Recreation,” “Never half-ass two things. Whole-ass one thing.”
10 tips to beat summer heat
As school winds down, and we look ahead to summer, The Vanguard came up with some fun activities you can try during your next three months of freedom. Enjoy, and happy summer, everyone!
1. Tap into your inner dad, and barbecue something for the Fourth of July.
2. Have a competition with your friends to see who can achieve the lowest screen time.
3. Don’t scare the current eighth graders about Bivouac. Please.
4. Go down a rabbit hole, and see how far you can get!
5. Wear sunscreen. We’re looking at you, crew team.
6. Read a book that isn’t summer reading. Turns out not every book is deeply conflicted and depressing once you branch away from the school-regulated ones.
7. Wake up early, and play “Here Comes the Sun” by The Beatles while the sun rises. Although oddly specific, it’s an ethereal experience. Bonus points if you’re on the beach while it happens.
8. Drive down the highway with your arms out the sunroof.
9. Revisit your childhood for a day. Some ideas: Take a bubble bath, complete a coloring page, build a sandcastle, construct a pillow fort or try hula-hooping.
10. To the seniors — enjoy the moment as you walk across that graduation stage. Although you complained at times, these last four years have been undoubtedly special. Bonus points if you do a backflip.
On Campus
Seniors explore passions through SSPs
Josh Curhan
“Since there isn’t time built in to see your friends during normal school, it’s important to plan and set aside time on your schedule,” Josh Curhan ’25 said, explaining how he planned his Senior Spring Project (SSP).
Josh attended a Macro Board Games Seminar with Upper School History Teacher Jennifer Wallace, led the Boys’ Track and Field team and learned to write piano music at the Powers Music School.
With fewer structured hours and more freedom, Josh said his SSP planning kept him feeling socially connected.
“I’m very grateful that I planned many activ-
Eva Mai Whyte
For her Senior Spring Project (SSP), Eva Mai Whyte ’25 interned at the Massachusetts General Hospital and as a travel agent. In addition to spending time in the operating room and booking vacations for families, she also created pottery pieces for families in need, learned to cook new dishes and designed a wellness club with her friends.
Eva Mai’s SSP experiences enabled her to explore new passions.
“This is a great opportunity, and no other schools do this,” she said. “Since I got this internship in Mass General, it has sparked my in-
Haley Hicks
“BB&N has been a second home for the last four years, so being able to give back to a community that has given so much to me felt like the best way to close it,” Haley Hicks ’25 said.
During the spring trimester, Haley taught kindergarteners at the Lower School, was a coxswain for crew, participated in a cappella, designed an independent study with Upper School (US) History Teacher Jennifer Wallace and joined a running club alongside friends.
Haley’s Senior Spring Project (SSP) was a fit-
ities with friends. Out of all my activities, I only did one alone.”
Additionally, Josh taught alongside Middle School Math Teacher Gus Means.
“So far, he’s let me lead lessons on exponent rules and finding volume and surface area of different 3D shapes,” Josh said. “I’m glad I could return to the Middle School because I have fond memories of Mr. Means’ class, and he was a large part of my motivation and success in high school math classes.”
—Verity Guo ’28
terest in taking the pre-med route or something to do in the medicine field in my future. … I’ve always had an interest in medicine, but I never got the chance to experience it firsthand in the environment.”
Eva Mai advised students to branch out during their SSPs.
“Try a lot of new things. If you love it, then that could be a career path and something you want to look into. Or, if you hate it, it’s just eight weeks, and it was a good experience.”
—Verity Guo ’28
ting culmination of her time at the US, she said.
“It’s where I’ve grown the most, found so many of my closest friendships and discovered what leadership means,” she said. “Being able to combine those two worlds for this project felt like a gift. It made me reflect on how I lead and how I support others, whether that’s a 5-yearold learning to zip their jacket or a boat of high school rowers chasing down a sprint.”
—Verity Guo ’28
Eyes on campus 24 security cameras identified around US
Ellis Wee Contributing Writer
This year, security cameras around the Upper School (US) recorded students skipping assemblies and car crashes in addition to providing enhanced safety measures. More than nine in 10 schools in the Northeast have security cameras as of 2019-20, according to Pew Research.
The US is a part of that 90%, using security cameras on campus since at least 2004. Since then, the US has upgraded the cameras as needed and added new ones as the school acquired properties like the Grove Street fields. These security cameras are designed to ensure the safety of students and faculty, the Security and Transportation Department explained in a written statement when asked for an interview about the cameras.
Sydney Xu ’28 shared her thoughts on the cameras.
“It’s important to have cameras at school to have an overall idea of what happens when there are no teachers,” she said.
Sydney hadn’t noticed any cameras before but understands their purpose.
“Even if they did install cameras, people’s behavior tends to stay the same,” she said. “If you are not doing anything wrong, then your behavior will be the same. That’s what I’ve been seeing. Nobody has been changing their behavior drastically. … I haven’t noticed any security
cameras if they have been installed.”
Grace Stafford ’27 agreed with Sydney.
“From what I have seen, I don’t really think having cameras will change students’ behavior unless students face consequences for what gets seen on camera.”
Grace sees the benefits of the cameras on campus.
“Having these cameras around is good. Safety is important, and having these security cameras around personally makes me feel safer.”
The statement emailed to The Vanguard explained the cameras’ presence.
“The main purpose of security cameras installed on BB&N campuses is to enhance safety and security for students, staff and visitors. This includes deterring potential threats like crime, vandalism and unauthorized entry.”
The school recently switched to partner with Synergy 911 as its security consulting partner (See Vol 53, Issue 3: “Campus security switches from Blue-U to Synergy 911”). The Vanguard found 24 cameras outside the US, including at entrances to buildings, the Nicholas Athletic Center (NAC) and the courtyard.
According to the statement provided, front desk staff like US Receptionist Andre Jones monitor some of the cameras to ensure staff and student privacy. All video footage is stored with other school records.
“BB&N has a security camera access policy which guides the occa-
sional times when video recordings may be accessed. Members of the security team and other authorized employees have access to the cameras in connection with a particular event or incident.”
The school turned to the security cameras in the fall when assessing vehicle accidents in front of the NAC.
“We were able to capture the accident footage and shared this information with the Department of Conservation and Recreation and asked that they add some traffic calming measures to assist with slowing the traffic down,” the statement read.
US Ceramics Teacher Christian Tonsgard said he was not informed that cameras were present on campus. “I didn’t even know cameras had been installed,” he said. “Is that a recent thing? I don’t think anybody’s been aware. But I think it is more that everywhere we go, we are constantly under surveillance. So, it is nothing new … They definitely don’t make me feel uncomfortable. I don’t know if they make me feel safer. They are just there.”
Drawing by Sydney Ruiz
Photo Courtesy of Josh Curhan
Josh Curhan ’25 helps middle schoolers with a math problem.
Photo Courtesy of Eva Mai Whyte
Eva Mai Whyte ’25 experiments with pizza toppings through an SSP seminar.
Photo Courtesy of Haley Hicks Haley Hicks ’25 coxes for Lukas Wellesley ’26 on the Charles River.
On Campus
How much do students really spend in a week?
In today’s world of Venmo, Apple Pay and online wallets, it can be easy to lose track of how much you spend. A small ding or a green check mark lighting up your phone screen doesn’t feel like spending real money, sometimes making students less aware of their purchases. The Vanguard had three students track their spending for a week, interviewing them before and after to get a sense of their weekly expenses. —Lucia Longstreet-Lipson ’27
ANSHIKA CHADDA ’26
Preliminary guess: $200
A typical week for Anshika Chadda ’26 consists of $70 spent on gas, $50 spent on a oncea-week dinner with friends and $80 on lunches during the school day, she said.
“Honestly, I think the majority of the money that I spend goes to my wants,” she said. “I would say that, generally, my wants aren’t super unnecessary. …. However, they aren’t super important either.”
Some of Anshika’s money comes from her part-time job that pays $450 a week during the summer. Anshika’s parents often fund her purchases, making her more attentive to her spending, even though she doesn’t budget.
“I respect my parents a lot, and I know they work incredibly hard to be able to provide for me, and I would say I use their money keeping that in mind,” she said. “I always let them know when I am making a transaction.”
Anshika said she feels satisfied with her spending habits but realizes she could reduce them.
“I could definitely cut down a little bit on eating out and spending money on food,” she said. “I think I go out for lunch about three to four times a week, which is probably more than I should, so that is definitely something I could
1x Food and drinks
1x Get nails done
1x Gas
1x Clothes
Total of
$54
$75
SYLVIA KUNST ’27
Preliminary guess: $20-30
Sylvia Kunst ’27 doesn’t usually monitor her purchases.
“I don’t track everything that I buy,” she said. “I kind of just know when I’m running out of money, but I don’t have a set budget. Every week is different.”
She earns her own money from working as a babysitter. On average, Sylvia receives $20 per hour, depending on the number of kids and the family.
“I babysit for a few families in my neighborhood. It’s not a regular thing but whenever they need me.”
Sylvia said she sometimes regrets her purchases.
“On occasion, I spend a little too much money on stuff I don’t end up using. … There are some random products I get, and later, I realize that it’s a waste.”
Throughout the week, Sylvia spent $14.75 on regular purchases and $150 for celebratory purposes.
“I spent more than expected, but it was my birthday week, so I had just gotten some money. I think others spend a lot of money on food, specifically, and people should ask themselves, ‘Do I really need this?’”
Troubled past to powerful present
Jeremy Lewin ’15 ascends in Trump’s DOGE
Yancheng Zhao Managing Editor
While the inner workings of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) remain secretive to most, Jeremy Lewin ’15 was in the room where it happened. Often associated with Elon Musk, President Donald Trump’s DOGE initiative has sought to overhaul many government programs, including dismantling the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and its incorporation into the U.S. State Department.
Mr. Lewin, one of the DOGE members who once oversaw the gutting of USAID, is now in charge of that very agency, as of press time. In March, Secretary of State Marco Rubio appointed Mr. Lewin as the deputy administrator for policy and programs and as the chief operating officer.
Mr. Lewin came to the school as a sophomore in 2012, where he was an editor for the Point of View (POV) and a member of the debate and Model U.N. teams. He was a winner of the National Merit Scholarship. The school yearbook awarded Mr. Lewin with the “Life of the Party” senior superlative alongside Emily Kohlberg ’15, while his Vanguard
superlative was “Most likely to tell you about his weekend.”
Mr. Lewin did not respond to The Vanguard’s requests for an interview. His former teachers at the school also declined to comment.
A former classmate who requested anonymity for fear of retaliation against his work said that while he was shocked to hear about Mr. Lewin’s involvement in the government, Mr. Lewin was the least surprising option of anyone in the Class of 2015.
“He was known for taking very polarizing and politically charged positions on a lot of things,” the classmate said. “He was known as the resident conservative. He really liked taking up positions and opinions that were ones that were going to rile people up and get attention.”
Mr. Lewin wrote a number of articles for the POV, including one criticizing former President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act. The classmate described Mr. Lewin as extremely conservative for 2015 and recalled him having racist tendencies.
“I don’t have any specifics, but I definitely remember him saying things like certain types of people are inherently inferior than other types of people.”
CALVIN LONG ’28
Preliminary guess:
Calvin Long ’28 tracked his spending over a week, which he said fluctuates based on food purchases.
“Sometimes, I get a lot of Chipotle or food at Harvard Square,” he said. “Sometimes, I don’t get anything. I definitely spend money on food, fast food and DoorDash. Also, just Gatorade or small snacks like that.”
Calvin doesn’t budget or monitor his spending.
“I try not to spend too much, but I don’t really track it. … Sometimes, my mom yells at me because I DoorDash too much McDonald’s.”
Calvin said he underestimated the money he spent during the week.
“I was surprised by how much I spend every week. I knew that I like to go to Harvard Square a couple times a week or go online shopping, but it was probably double what I expected.”
Calvin advises other students to pay closer attention to their purchases.
“At least have a little bit of discipline because you don’t want to feel like you are wasting money.”
Mr. Lewin’s time at the school was problematic, the classmate said.
“If you’ve seen the articles, basically everything in those articles is true,” he said. “He was a deeply troubled kid that I think craved attention from people and would do anything to get attention.”
Mr. Lewin was known for throwing parties, especially after school events like Homecoming.
“He could get pressured into doing things for people.”
His classmate said Mr. Lewin was known for activities like providing alcohol, organizing fake IDs and helping people buy drugs. He would also frequently get violent, which led to incidents such as when Mr. Lewin threw a bowl at a student in the Commons, the classmate said.
“You never really knew when he was gonna fly off the handle.”
This behavior was, in part, due to factors outside of school, his classmate said.
“It’s a multi-sided story because, at the end of the day, he certainly was having a kind of a tough time. He certainly was socially not welladjusted and had some home life issues. People were never very nice to him, so I think that’s a part of it.”
According to The Boston Globe, his father, Michael Lewin, is a con-
cert pianist, and his mother, Dora Present Lewin, is a banker. His parents are now divorced.
Mr. Lewin often lied to appear cooler, the classmate said.
“He was a pathological liar. I remember his first couple weeks of school, he came and told everyone that he was some superstar lacrosse player at Commonwealth, where he transferred from. Then, he tried out for the varsity team at BB&N, and it was clear he never held a lacrosse stick in his life.”
Mr. Lewin’s frequent stories made it hard to know when he was telling the truth, the classmate said.
After graduation, Mr. Lewin attended Dartmouth College. He has not attended any reunions of his class to date.
Photo Courtesy of The Perspective Mr. Lewin received the “Life of the Party” senior superlative from the school’s yearbook.
AP or RIP?
Students, teachers see risks, benefits of AP exams differently
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
“There’s a bigger systemic issue around how we approach the next learning opportunity,” Ms. Riemer said. “College is meant to be a learning opportunity, so the feeling of ‘Everything comes down to how you do on an AP exam’ is a hard, hard sell.”
Nathan Ma ’27 self-studied for the AP Biology and Physics 1 exams. He took Physics (Honors) this year.
“I just liked bio, and I thought AP Physics would at least be sort of similar to what we did in class, so I thought it would just be a little bit of extra work to study for that,” he said. “But, overall, I picked bio because I liked the class.”
Self-studying for his AP exams wasn’t easy, Nathan said.
“You always tell yourself you’re going to study like a ton, but then you end up just cramming the last day before. Just like staying consistent with yourself when you’re studying, it’s been tough.”
Praneal Rohatgi ’27 said he wasn’t recommended for the AP Chemistry class, so he selfstudied for the AP Chemistry exam.
“I chose to self-study for an AP exam because I thought there’s no harm in taking it because I don’t always have to report it to colleges,” he said. “So, I thought I might as well try my best. The toughest thing is that the chemistry classes — or for any class — they don’t cover all the units that are on the AP test if you just take the base class. So, there’s a lot of self-studying units that you didn’t cover in class.”
US History Teacher and APUSH Coordinator Jessica Stokes recommends prioritizing coursework over self-studying for AP exams when students have to make a choice.
“From a college admissions perspective, my understanding is that the grade on your transcript is more important than the AP score,” she said. “From a course content perspective, we choose the coursework because we believe it is more beneficial for understanding the world rather than just taking an exam. For both those reasons, if students are trying to decide whether to spend time on coursework or self-study for an exam, and they can only do one of those two, then I would suggest that they focus more on their coursework.”
Deciding whether to self-study for an AP is an individual choice, Ms. Stokes said.
“You should talk with people you trust, your parents, your siblings, maybe your friends but
not necessarily your friends. Don’t do it just because your friends are doing it. And talk to your advisor if that would be helpful.”
Scarlett Chan-MacRae ’26 self-studied for the AP English Language and Composition and APUSH exams.
“I really enjoy knowing what’s going on in the world and being able to relate my points to that. So, that’s why for me I was down to do Lang just for fun to see how it goes.”
Scarlett’s parents didn’t pressure her to selfstudy for AP exams, she said.
“My parents are always reminding me that these APs are optional, like you’re just pushing yourself beyond what is expected of you, so if you do really badly, ‘Oh well,’ but if you do really well, it’s good for you. So, yes, my motivation’s bad, but at the same time, I might as well try it either way.”
Caption Contest!
Have a creative caption for the cartoon to the left? Submit it to us by going to vanguard.bbns.org, clicking on “More” and then going to “Cartoons.” We’ll publish the top three titles in our next issue!
The winner of last issue’s caption contest: “The recipe says, ‘Let cookies rest for 10 minutes before serving.’ Time’s up. Sorry!” –Upper School English Teacher Wes Williams
Second place: “Feeling crumby” –Alix Wozniak ’10
Returning to freshman memories
Seniors
revisit Bivouac, participate in new Monadnock
hike
turn to Bivouac are conscious of how they have grown over the years.
Third place: “I said cookies BEFORE bed, not IN bed. Prepositions matter.” –Upper School English Teacher Talayah Hudson
Ms. Oulton agreed with Mr. Strodel that Back-to-Biv is a reflective opportunity, she said.
In September 2021, the Class of 2025 began its Upper School (US) journey with the traditional freshman year orientation program at Bivouac. Four years older and on the brink of graduation, around 100 members of the class participated in the “Back-to-Biv” program and returned to where their US experiences began.
According to Freshman Class Co-Dean and Bivouac Director David Strodel ’78, Back-to-Biv offers seniors a chance to reminisce.
“It’s an opportunity for them to go back to where they started high school for a few hours, have some fun together and maybe reflect a little bit about what’s come in between,” he said.
Back-to-Biv activities are largely driven by students.
“We try to organize the experiences of students so that they can grow, and they’ll be the ones telling us what it meant,” Mr. Strodel said. “We don’t intend for it to mean something. We just create the parameters and the experiences.”
Mr. Strodel said he hopes students who re-
“You’ve run the race, you’re back where you started, but you’re a different person than you were, and what it means to be there is a lot different than what it meant when you got there in the beginning.”
The personal significance of Back-to-Biv varies among seniors, Mr. Strodel said.
“Probably the best things you do, the best things that were planned for you throughout high school, meant something different to everybody who went on to do them.”
Activities during Back-to-Biv include visiting old squads with squadmates, playing sports on the main field, going on a walk to the lake and making pizza. 47 students signed up for a hike on Mount Monadnock, which is being offered for the first time this year.
US Math Teacher Christine Oulton helped organize the hike, which took place the morning before Back-to-Biv.
“I am excited to add this hike. … We weren’t sure what interest there would be, but we’ve had so much interest,” she said.
“The main thing is just nostalgia. It’s to take this time and remember how it all started. It’s a nice bookend to their experience.”
The day culminates in an open mic-style assembly on the same rock where the first freshman class meeting typically takes place.
“You can just tell when they’re on the rock, and five or six people want to get up and talk to the class and reminisce, you just get a sense that it’s a success,” Ms. Oulton said.
Will Benjamin ’25 looked forward to returning to Bivouac, he said.
“You go into the woods. Buh-bye. You’re there, it might suck, but you all learn from it and grow from it. Bivouac really does build a community in the grade.”
The Bivouac experience is a unique part of the US journey, Will said.
“Going somewhere like Six Flags, that would be fun, sure, but it’s just very generic. Bookending the high school journey with a specific BB&N thing makes it a full BB&N experience.”
Vartan Arakelian Digital Media Editor
Drawing by Alice Wang
Drawing by Sydney Ruiz
Departing Faculty
Mr. Delgado
Over the past five years, Director of Enrollment Management Jorge Delgado has lent his talents to the school’s Admissions team, connecting with students from all three campuses. From interviewing potential students to chaperoning the Upper School Spanish exchange trip, Mr. Delgado has been involved in the school community since he first joined.
Having unified the Admissions team, Mr. Delgado oversaw the admissions processes for all three campuses.
“Being able to welcome new students and families to the school has been really great and getting to know prospective students through the admissions process and reading their applications,” he said. “But, really, the welcoming of new families to campus, whether it’s the first day of beginners or sending kids off to Bivouac at the beginning of the year, has always felt really gratifying.”
Next year, Mr. Delgado plans to move to Ojai, California, to be closer to his family. He will work a similar job as the Director of Enrollment for the Thacher School, a boarding school.
“It is a bittersweet departure, ... but I’m excited to tackle boarding school life,” Mr. Delgado said. “I will miss my wonderful colleagues, both on the Admissions team and the folks that I’ve gotten to work with across three campuses. There’s some amazing teachers here, people who are not just colleagues now but also friends.”
—Valor McGrath ’28
Mr. Smith
Ms. Van Voorhis
After four years, Upper School (US) Woodworking and 3D Design Teacher Anna Van Voorhis is leaving to teach at Phillips Academy Andover. In addition to teaching, Ms. V served as a Bivouac guide, faculty advisor for the Designing for Impact Club and member of the sophomore grade team.
Ms. V was drawn to the US because of its core values.
“The fact that kindness is in the school motto has always really spoken to me,” she said. “That’s a really important part of what BB&N has to offer, and when it’s living up to its truest ideals, that’s a really big part of the community here.”
Ms. V enjoyed seeing her students be creative.
“Each kid has their own way of working that makes sense to them,” she said. “Sometimes, it’s wrong and not going to work the way they wanted, but, just as often, it’s a totally novel way of doing something that will work. So, I feel like I’m always just learning by watching people interact with the materials and processes we work with here.”
She hopes her students will take away lessons learned from their time in the wood shop, she said.
“I really want students to have an appreciation of how much skill and craft goes into all the things we use on a daily basis that we just take for granted. … I hope students leave with a sense of confidence that they can complete hard tasks and that they’re smart enough and talented enough to get through to the end of a problem.”
Max Re ’26 has spent three years in Ms. V’s class.
“Whenever someone in the wood shop is overwhelmed by a school assignment or project, Ms. V is always there to remind us that there is more to people than a grade on one assignment in one class,” he said. “Ms. V and the wood shop offer an opportunity to reflect and relax.”
—Pilar Bowen-Arce ’28
Upper School (US) Education Fellow Theo Smith is leaving the US to attend graduate school at Columbia University in New York City.
In his two years at the US, Mr. Smith served as a Bivouac guide and shadowed students during their chemistry, history and health classes. Through these classes, Mr. Smith realized he wanted to pursue becoming a chemistry teacher.
“I think my biggest lesson is to trust my gut as an educator,” he said. “I have good instincts, and my experiences here taught myself to trust myself more.”
Mr. Smith hopes to have left an impact on the US community.
“I just hope that I have passed on a little bit of my passion for learning and that I left some curiosity and ability to connect with others through learning together,” he said. “There is always something on people’s minds, whether they’re staff or students. I will miss the random thought-provoking conversations.”
—Pilar Bowen-Arce ’28
Ms. Huff
Sixth Grade English and Homeroom Teacher Leila Huff has been teaching novels like “Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry” and inviting students at the Lower School (LS) to think critically, she said. With her 12-year legacy imprinted on the LS’s walls, Ms. Huff plans to pursue her teaching career or potentially another role in the future.
While teaching, Ms. Huff prioritized listening to and learning from students.
“My copy of ‘Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry’ was duct-taped together because I taught it for 12 years, and my students would always ask, ‘Why don’t you just get a new copy, Ms. Huff? Your book is falling apart,’” she said. “I would always say, ‘But I have 12 years of student ideas in here.’ It’s just so magical. I can’t get rid of it. Recognizing that you’re going to learn from your students every single year is something that I have learned from BB&N, and I’m excited to take that knowledge wherever I go next.”
Every year, Ms. Huff accompanied the sixth grade class on their trip to Hulbert, an overnight camping trip. Collaborating with the students in a multitude of activities made the trips “truly special,” she said.
Ms. Huff enjoyed the positive environment at the LS.
“Young kids and sixth graders get to be a part of the magic of the Lower School, which is pretty cool.”
The teamwork among LS faculty made even the most challenging years during COVID-19 feel more bearable, Ms. Huff said.
“I learned that in any job I’m going to do going forward, whether that’s teaching or something different, being part of a special team like the faculty at the Lower School can make anything possible, even in the hardest of circumstances.”
—Valor McGrath ’28
Photo Courtesy of Leila Huff
Photo Courtesy of Theo Smith
Staff Photo by Olivia Richter
Photo Courtesy of Jorge Delgado
‘Curiosity’ required
What
it
takes to write outstanding junior profile
Three hours of observation. Eleven hours of writing. Thirteen hours of editing. Juniors might spend this amount of time over the course of a month working on their Junior Profiles.
On May 2, juniors completed the annual eight-to-11 page English project in which students write about an “interesting person at work” via interviewing and shadowing them at their job.
Oftentimes, students have difficulty finding a profile subject.
“It doesn’t matter whom they choose, provided they are interested in it,” Upper School English Teacher Allison Kornet said. “But I will say that sometimes, someone proposes the subject or they settle on one, and I’ll be like, ‘No, don’t do that one.’”
Ms. Kornet sees some of the same careers throughout the years.
“I’ve read 10 hairdressers, and there’s just no way I’m going to be interested in one more because I still haven’t learned how to cut people’s hair from these profiles, and if you don’t teach me that, then I’m going to be biased when I start.”
An outstanding profile receives an A or an A-minus.
“A profile becomes outstanding because the writer’s given us a reason to care,” Ms. Kornet said. “Outstanding profiles take us on some sort of journey into something that the writer has invited us to be interested in that is genuinely interesting.”
A combination of writing and curiosity is essential.
“All you have to do is learn how to see people with more curiosity, and that is the orientation of a good profile writer,” Ms. Kornet said. “Some profiles have beautiful sentence writing in them. But we also see profiles that have beautiful sentences with not a lot of human curiosity.”
Sophia Stafford ’25 was awarded the firstplace prize in the fall for her outstanding profile.
“My profile subject, Lygia, is a caretaker at a dementia care facility,” Sophia said. “Lygia was naturally really compelling. It was really interesting to see how she interacted with
each of the residents and how much she cared about them.”
Receiving feedback was a crucial part of Sophia’s writing process.
“The most impactful feedback was from my English teacher, Ms. Ueda,” she said. “Ms. Ueda helped me see that my first idea was a little bit too plain, and she encouraged me to dig deeper into Lygia’s motivations. That gave more insight into who my subject actually was.”
Sophia believes a successful profile entails both a unique subject and strong writing.
“I think the main skill of the profile is being able to figure out what is unique about your subject and reveal it to the reader in a compelling way,” she said. “The beauty of the pro-
Stuck at school Students oppose US off-campus policies
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
The current school policies don’t feel fair, a freshman who requested anonymity to avoid disciplinary consequences said.
“I think freshmen should be allowed to leave campus. We are responsible enough, and a lot of schools have this opportunity as freshmen.”
School policies require all eligible students to sign in and out when leaving campus.
The freshman said she left campus to go to Starbucks in February.
“There was one time I went out, and I went a little too far, and I wasn’t able to get back in time, and I ended up missing a significant chunk of time.”
She did not face any disciplinary consequences from the school.
“It was pretty lax. … I didn’t get caught,” she said.
During her freshman year, Ingrid Schrag ’27 wanted to go out for food before late field hockey practices.
file is that everyone has something remarkable about them, and the writer’s job is to identify and highlight it.”
Elizabeth Velander ’26 chose a woman who works in art restoration.
“I could tell she was super passionate about her job. … I was able to learn something that I didn’t know before, which made me more excited to learn about it.”
Elizabeth believes a profile’s success depends on the writer’s skill.
“A writer’s skill probably matters more than the profile subject based on how high of a grade you’re going to get,” Elizabeth said. “If you have a decent profile subject but don’t show their story well, you’re not going to get a good grade.”
“I don’t think the freshmen really do abide by the rules,” she said. “We would fully just leave and go to Harvard Square to get dinner. Because, otherwise, you’re not eating.”
Even though the off-campus rules are outlined in the US Handbook, many students are unaware of their privileges, Ingrid said.
“I don’t think I know what mine are at all. I remember freshman year, people got in trouble for leaving in between practices, so I guess we can do that this year because we’re not getting in trouble for it. But no clue … it was never talked about.”
The school does not allow food deliveries to the front desk, which may contribute to students leaving campus.
“BB&N has some rules that make you want to go off-campus more, like you can’t DoorDash to the school,” Ben Kaplan ’26 said.
He also said students leave because of parking issues.
“There is a two-hour parking lot across the street, so some students who park there at eight need to move their car at 10, but you’re not allowed to leave until lunch, so it makes students choose between following the rules and not getting a $40 ticket.”
US Math Teacher Christine Oulton appreciates that the policies give more freedom to older students.
“The rules as they are now seem to make sense. I like the fact that as kids get older, they get more off-campus privileges.”
Although faculty enforces the signing in and out process, some students continue to bypass the policies.
Lauren Kim Contributing Writer
Drawing by Sydney Xu
Staff Photo by Olivia Richter
Sylvie Welu ’26 brings in a Starbucks refresher to the US.
To read or not to read? Homework, extracurriculars deter students from reading outside of class
Scarlett Hawkins Features Editor
Princess Adeoye ’27 used to spend hours reading for pleasure. Now, the only books she reads are assigned for school, she said.
“I used to read a lot when I was younger, but now, with hours of homework, extracurriculars and activities in my life, I simply do not have the time to read for pleasure, but I wish I had more time to read.”
Gemma Friend ’28 also said she no longer has time outside of school.
“I love reading when I have the time, but I don’t often read other than articles that my mom sends or over vacation and summer.”
Reading outside of school enables students to explore their interests.
“When you have to do something, it makes you want to do it less,” Gemma said. “Because, when you’re reading for school, you always have to do it, but reading for fun can be whenever you want, which can make you enjoy it more and build a deeper connection with the book.”
David Xiong ’26 reads 30 minutes per day of articles and novels outside of his school-assigned reading.
“Reading in school and outside of the classroom are very different experiences,” he said. “Reading in school, you read with an analytical mind, with certain techniques. ‘What is the significance of the symbol in this particular passage?’ And while those are good tools for understanding a book, doing that all
the time can make you lose the enjoyment and beauty of reading.”
Over the summer, David read “1984” by George Orwell for plea sure.
“‘1984’ was a truly influential novel for the way I think about poli tics, the way I think about govern ment systems and the way I think about oppression in different societ ies. I wouldn’t have gained that ex perience if I had not read something outside of the English curriculum.”
Many at school take reading for
Masquerade magic Sophomore dance unites class in style
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
Fundraising for the event involved a March Madness-style bake-off competition led by then-Vice President Diya Gandhi ’27.
“I think it was a really good idea because you incentivize people to bake treats and vote for what they like better,” Whitney said. “Everyone gets a chance to be part of the bake-off and have fun.”
Elsbeth Kasparian ’27, another committee member, said the dance helped unite the sophomore class.
“It’s a great way for the sophomores to bond because there’s a lot of junior and senior stuff, and toward the end of the year, we’re starting to branch into the upper grades a little bit more,” she said. “So, it’s nice that we get to have a fun tradition ourselves.”
The sophomore dance showed stu-
“There is real value in reading a book for pleasure when you don’t have an end goal,” she said. “You are reading to enjoy the novel and get to see the world from someone else’s shoes and perspective. But I hear from my students that, with the general amount of academic and extracurricular workload, they had to stop reading for pleasure at some point, but sometimes it is important to squeeze some time in.”
The US English Department strives to engage students with a diverse selection of novels and foster a genuine enjoyment of reading, Ms. Duddy said. She has noticed significant differences between students who read and don’t read outside of class, she said.
“I can often tell which students are readers outside of school. Their vocabulary tends to be better, they have variety in sentence structure and they often have a higher level of critical thinking.”
Ms. Duddy hopes that more students read during their free time.
granted, David said. “A lot of people don’t realize
dents want a say in planning events.
“It seems as if some of the students, at least listening to the representative speeches for this year, wanted more involvement with students picking the sophomore dance committee,” she said. “So, maybe in the future, stu dents could look into having a broader community or opening up the idea of what themes and food people want to the general class.”
Aiko Bertram ’27 said she wished students had more input on selecting the dance’s theme.
“One thing that we could’ve done differently is make a Google Form to make sure the majority of the grade liked the theme.”
Aiko ultimately appreciated having the dance.
“The dance … had a lot of food for everyone and provided these nicelooking masks. The DJ was also great.”
Adi Bhatia ’27 also attended the sophomore dance.
“It is something that should defi nitely be continued. It was a fun event, and it was well organized.”
Adi had mixed feelings about the theme.
“The theme wasn’t a big part of the event, and it was pretty flexible.”
Riley Meek ’27 enjoyed the dance.
“I thought the theme was good,” she said. “A lot of people didn’t like it, but I don’t think it made much of a dif ference.”
“Ask a librarian, an English teacher or anyone who loves books for recommendations based on
Drawing by Sydney Xu
Photo Courtesy of Niyam Badani Meredith Richardson and Princess Adeoye (both ’27) fight for a chair during the sophomore dance.
May marks Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) and Jewish American Heritage Month, offering Upper School students an opportunity to learn about others’ unique cultures and traditions. To celebrate, The Vanguard brought together leaders from the affinity spaces: Lucy Song, Shay Patel and Austin Fuchs (all ’26), the presidents of the Asian American Student Association (AASA), South Asian Student Alliance (SASA) and Jewish Cultural Club (JCC), respectively. —Vartan Arakelian ’26
What is the importance of the school celebrating and recognizing your heritage month?
Shay: Our school recognizes a lot of different heritages. It spreads awareness, and our April assembly gave more information to the rest of the school because a lot of people don’t know about our heritage.
Lucy: I’d agree. I think BB&N is made up of a lot of different cultures, and it’s a very diverse school, and so it’s important to recognize each individual culture.
Austin: I think it’s very important, because although I believe that we should be recognized and acknowledged 365 days out of the year, there should be a devoted time to learn about our history, to explore our culture, to talk, think about and discuss our influence on other cultures, what we do and how we operate our lives and how that’s different but still important in our modern world.
How did your affinity space celebrate your heritage month?
Lucy: AASA and SASA did a joint event with a lot of food, and we just spent time together.
Shay: We also did the assembly that was part of our celebration.
In reality, it’s all one month, AANHPI month, so I’m not sure why the school separates SASA and AASA. I think it might be because there is a lot of kids, but it’s nice to come together, to celebrate as a whole.
We also got to see a lot of similarities celebrating together. More
We had an assembly in May. It was more of a fun assembly where we had questions, but it was really important to spread the word and educate people on stuff they probably don’t know. We’ve had our weekly meetings where we discuss what’s going on in the world, what life’s like for
What are some traditions and values from your heritage?
I enjoy celebrating Diwali, the Festival of Lights.
The importance of family, especially in Korea, is something I value.
I value community. Being Jewish is all about accepting everybody and putting yourself second, making sure everybody’s happy around you but also standing up for yourself. Being a minority in the world right now, it’s very important to stay true to who you are and always keep, in this case,
How do you think celebrating your heritage month helps foster understanding and inclusion among students?
I think the assembly did a good job of sharing some aspects of Asian culture with the broader school, which I don’t think people would know
Shay: I agree with Lucy. The assembly spread more information or brought us to people’s minds. It’s helpful for people to understand more about our culture rather than just see it from the outside and not know what it is.
Austin: BB&N is a very diverse community. I feel like we’re a melting pot of all different people. It’s important, not only in my case, to learn about other people. Understanding different people and different cultures builds a stronger and safer community.
What motivated you to become a leader of your affinity group?
Shay: I always want to help bring the SASA community together. I think a leadership position helps and gives more leeway in trying to organize stuff.
Lucy: In my freshman and sophomore years, I really enjoyed going to AASA. The leaders do a great job of uniting everyone in that space, so I thought the leadership opportunity would give me the chance to do that and help bring the community together even more.
Austin: I’m one of those kids who’s not afraid to speak up, and I took it upon myself because I saw that there were a lot of things that either needed to be changed or built upon in the school. I wanted to be a leader because I am very passionate about what we’re doing as a community and what it means to be Jewish.
How did your affinity space engage with the school community during your heritage month?
Lucy: Just spreading information like the assembly did, One School One World and just celebrating our culture. But AASA itself has also grown. More people are coming to our meetings during this month.
Shay: For our trivia questions at the assembly, we made them interactive so that students would retain more information.
Austin: We had the assembly, and we’ve had various meetings discussing our culture. Nowadays, it’s very difficult to balance culture and holidays and stuff that brings joy and obviously what’s going on with the rest of the world. I feel like our room, our community, has done a very good job this month of having that balance.
Shay Patel, Austin Fuchs and Lucy Song (all ’26)
Karen Read Trial
Karen Read, a Canton resident, is on trial for the 2022 death of her boyfriend, Boston police officer John O’Keefe. Prosecutors allege she struck him with her SUV while intoxicated and left him to die in the snow outside a fellow officer’s home. Read’s defense claims she is being framed, arguing O’Keefe was beaten inside the house and that the investigation was corrupted by a police cover-up. The case has drawn intense media attention due to its dramatic claims, conflicting evidence and alleged misconduct by investigators. After a 2024 mistrial, a second trial began in April 2025 and was ongoing at the time of publication.
January 29, 2022
Discovery of John O’Keefe’s body
Boston police officer John O’Keefe was found unresponsive in the snow outside fellow officer Brian Albert’s home in Canton, Massachusetts. Karen Read, his girlfriend, had reportedly dropped him off there the previous night. Emergency responders noted that Read appeared distressed and allegedly said, “I hit him” multiple times at the scene.
April–July 2024 First trial and mistrial
Read’s first trial commenced on April 16, 2024. The prosecution argued that Read, after a night of drinking, struck O’Keefe with her SUV and left him to die. The defense contended that O’Keefe was assaulted inside the house, and his body was moved outside. On July 1, 2024, after jurors reported being deadlocked, the judge declared a mistrial.
April–May 2025 Key witness testimonies
February–June 2022 Charges filed against Karen Read
On February 2, 2022, Read was arraigned on charges including manslaughter, motor vehicle homicide and leaving the scene of a collision. She pleaded not guilty and was released on bail. In June 2022, a grand jury indicted her on upgraded charges of second-degree murder.
March 2025
Lead investigator relieved of duty
In March 2025, Massachusetts State Police trooper Michael Proctor, the lead investigator in the case, was dishonorably discharged. An internal investigation found him guilty of unsatisfactory performance and inappropriate behavior during the investigation.
During the retrial, several witnesses testified:
Jennifer McCabe discussed a Google search on “hos [sic] long to die in cold,” which she claimed was at Read’s request upon finding O’Keefe’s body.
• Katie McLaughlin, a paramedic, testified that Read repeatedly said, “I hit him” at the scene.
• Prosecution presented text messages and voicemails from Read to O’Keefe on the night of his death, showing expressions of anger.
Karen Read
and adjunct
April 1, 2025 Second trial begins
Jury selection for Read’s retrial began on April 1, 2025. The defense team included new attorneys, and Hank Brennan led the prosecution. Opening statements started on April 22, 2025.
As of May 2025, the retrial is ongoing with further testimonies and evidence being presented. The case continues to draw significant public and media attention. May 2025 Trial ongoing
John O’Keefe
A 16-year veteran of the Boston Police Department whose body was found outside a fellow officer’s home during a snowstorm in January 2022. He was dating Karen Read at the time of his death.
Brian Albert
Retired Boston Police sergeant who
the
found.
where
defense alleges he was involved in a cover-up of the true circumstances of O’Keefe’s death.
A former financial analyst
professor accused of killing her boyfriend, Boston police officer John O’Keefe, by allegedly hitting him with her SUV and leaving him in the snow. She maintains her innocence and claims she is being framed.
owned
home
O’Keefe’s body was
The
Karen Read Trial
The Vanguard spoke with John Fulginiti ’81, a partner of the law firm of Taylor, Ganson & Perrin, LLP and a former special prosecutor in the Middlesex County District Attorney’s Office, as well as David Jellinek ’93, a criminal defense attorney. They talked about the legal process, media attention the case has gotten and the public’s opinion. The Vanguard also spoke to Canton resident Jordan Price ’27 on the impact of the trial on her community.
Interview with David Jellinek ’93:
Why do you think this case has captured the public’s attention more than others?
It’s because she is considered an attractive woman with an odd story. There are lots of odd facts and odd police involvement.
What are the challenges of defending a client when there’s heavy media attention or public backlash?
First is, as a lawyer, you have to deal with the media. Some lawyers like to make comments. It adds a layer of pressure because you’re in the public eye more. It also makes it harder to pick a jury because the facts can get leaked. You need jurors with unbiased opinions.
Interview with John Fulginiti ’81:
Interview with Jordan Price ’27:
The thing about living in Canton is that the case is never talked about among the kids. It’s very polarizing so it’s not a topic that’s discussed because people are scared to take a certain side. If you take a certain side, you’re going against one person, but then if you take the other side, you’re going against another person. The adults definitely talk about it more than the kids. I know a lot of adults in Canton are keeping a close eye on the trial, and it’s always on the news. It has divided the town a lot. If you’re on the side of Karen Read, you’re kind of going against a lot of people in the town, but then if you’re on the side of Jen McCabe, then the people on the other side are like, “Why do you think that?”
Why do you think this case has captured the public’s attention more than others? This case has so many unique issues going on. It’s a real rarity in terms of there being a real question as to the prosecution’s case and the defense’s case. The idea that there is possibly a third-party culprit or culprits involved, evidence that just appeared long after people were originally at the scene or investigated. You also have the fact that Turtleboy made a podcast highlighting all the different inconsistencies and issues. That’s what really catapulted this case into the media.
What are the challenges of defending a client when there’s heavy media attention or public backlash?
I think it’s very hard for attorneys to be under 24/7 scrutiny for every single witness they do a direct examination on or cross-examination on, and that’s what’s happening. Right now, there must be at least a couple of dozen different podcasts that, after each day of testimony, do very detailed critiques on everything that the defense attorneys are doing. For that matter, they are also doing it with respect to the prosecution. There is just a lot of attention, and it’s critical for attorneys to do their best to block all that out, keep their eye on the ball and not get caught up in all the criticism.
With circumstantial evidence, how do you go about building a strong defense?
In a circumstantial case, those are the best scenarios to build a strong defense because you have so many places that you can poke holes at.
Jennifer McCabe
Sister-in-law of Brian Albert and a key witness who was with Read when O’Keefe’s body was discovered. She testified that Read admitted to hitting O’Keefe, though the defense questions her credibility.
Michael Proctor
Aidan Kearney
“Turtleboy”)
Gambling gender divide
• Men (69%) gamble twice as much as women (36%) in the United States. This statistic may be due to their different tendencies in coping with impulsiveness and risk-taking.
• Researchers found that men are more likely to make impulsive decisions and take risks than women, making it more difficult for them to stop gambling.
• Men have an average of $55,000-90,000 gambling debt worldwide, while women only have an average of $15,000 in gambling debt worldwide.
Sources: National Library of Medicine, Scan Team.
Student responses
I
Do you feel like you have control over your gambling?
If
or someone you
Anonymous senior Anonymous juniors and sophomore
If you’re at a loss, what encourages you to keep playing?
When I’m personally at a loss, and I know I’m not in that right mental state, I’m the opposite of encouraged. I know, for some people, that encourages them more, and that’s where the problem starts. Even when I lose, that’s not necessarily a sign I should stop playing. For me, it’s when I’m mad. I know when I’m mad, my decisions are going to be impacted.
How do you bet underage?
There are websites where you can just play poker. We don’t actually play with money, where we put money in online. At the beginning or at the end of every week, we settle the debts: 100 chips in the game is $1. Then, we figure out how to pay each other.
It’s just a risk and reward thing. It’s also a good skill to learn for when you’re older; it’s a good pastime to have as long as you’re not addicted to it, and the highs and lows of it are always fun.
I like to think of it as, even if I’m losing, as paying for spending time with friends. It’s just a good time, honestly, as long as you know your limits.
I just love the feeling of making money, like the cha-ching after you have a big session. More than winning, I just enjoy cleaning somebody out. You know what I mean? Especially if they’re somebody that you don’t like.
If you’re at a loss, what encourages you to keep playing?
To make it back. My saying is, get even or get even worse. The thing about poker is, some days you’re gonna win big, some days you’re gonna lose big, and it’s just a matter of playing every day. The more you play, the more consistent you’ll be. Kobe Bryant got up at 5 a.m. to put up a million shots every day. I do the same with poker.
Do NBA players just play when it’s game time? No, they play all day.
After your friends have gotten in trouble for gambling at school and teachers have warned students, will you stop? No. No. No.
Upper School English Teacher Dave
Scrivner weighs in
You can’t watch any sporting event, and in some cases, you can’t watch any television or listen to a podcast or listen to the radio, without hearing a million ads for sports betting. It’s everywhere, and a lot of these companies are directly targeting younger folks because young people have more access to the internet. There’s also stuff about addiction, dopamine, worry and depression that comes along with gambling. It’s not a small thing. Some will argue that betting makes the game more entertaining, but it’s very bad for a developing prefrontal cortex to be exposed to additional dopamine, which betting does. This is how sports betting becomes addictive.
We were told that there’s been an increase in folks who have been sports gambling and betting on poker and card games while on campus. We as a school have the responsibility and the privilege to create the kind of community we want here: one that we know will be best for our students.
What I said during a sophomore grade class meeting was that you guys cannot bet on campus, and if I see you doing this, I’ll take your device, and we’ll walk over and have a conversation with Dean of Students Rory Morton ’81. I don’t love being that guy; I would much rather have a different relationship with students, but at the same time, we have a responsibility to do what we know is best for kids, and not letting them gamble on campus is clearly in their best interest.
Drawing by Alice Wang
Opinions
Tatum, trouble and trades
It’s the beginning of the end for the Boston Celtics. On May 17, the Celtics lost to the New York Knicks by a crushing 38-point margin and were eliminated from the Eastern Conference Semifinals. Just like the Celtics’ performance this series, it’s safe to say the hopes I had in my last column for the C’s to win big this year didn’t exactly make it past the third quarter. While the Celtics’ secondround playoff exit certainly comes as a shocker, especially after sweeping the Knicks in the regular season, that’s arguably the last thing Boston fans should be concerned with. The season’s real tragedy lies in Tatum’s torn Achilles and the foreboding feeling that game six was the last time we’ll ever see this Celtics lineup take the court.
Watching Tatum’s injury unfold felt surreal. One second, everything was fine, and then the next, Tatum fell to the ground, grabbing at his Achilles. Before this injury, Tatum had only missed one playoff game in his entire career due to a wrist wound and led the league in minutes played since 2018 (24,961). Given Tatum’s strong history, I assumed he only slipped and would be up for the next play. Regardless, though the injury was nearly invisible on film, its effects will certainly become evident for the team going forward.
Tatum’s recovery is expected to last six months to a full year, and if he does return at the end of next season, he will hardly play. To make matters worse, it’s generally accepted that no NBA player fully regains the same physicality after an Achilles injury. Even superstars Kobe Bryant and Kevin Durant, who are considered to have had successful recoveries after tearing their Achilles, both lost their explosive-to-the-rim driving abilities — a key facet to Tatum’s game. So, while a standing ovation certainly awaits Tatum at the Garden, the hard truth is that we may never see the same JT again.
It doesn’t stop with Tatum, though. The Celtics are in massive financial trouble. If the team doesn’t make any changes in the offseason, they’re expected to pay roughly $225 million in player salaries (second most in the league). More alarmingly, the Celtics will have to pay $280 million in luxury tax. I’ll say that again: $280 MILLION. Why is the tax so high? Three words: the second apron. A two-level threshold tax, the apron system adds additional penalties and trade restrictions for teams exceeding the salary cap. Arguably more important, the 2025-26 Celtics may trigger the “repeater tax” penalty, which occurs when teams exceed the salary cap for three consecutive years — an additional dollar-per-dollar penalty on top of the apron taxes.
To cut roughly $40 million to meet the salary cap, the answer is simple: trades. Since cutting a handful of bench players with million-dollar contracts would be like hacking at the tip of an iceberg, the real decision lies in the starting five.
Right now, there seem to be three obvious choices: Jrue Holiday, Kristaps Porziņģis and Al Horford. In my opinion, it’s the latter two that should go. As Holiday and Porziņģis make an annual $30 million, letting go of one of them would significantly improve the Celtics’ cap space. Although Porziņģis averaged eight more points per game this year compared to Holiday, Holiday played in 20 more games. Moreover, Holiday played in all 19 games in last year’s championship run while Porziņģis only played in seven. With similar points per game in the playoffs both seasons, it comes down to games played, and Holiday is the better choice.
“The season’s real tragedy lies in Tatum’s torn Achilles and the
foreboding feeling that game six was the last time we’ll ever see this Celtics lineup take the court.”
Likewise, Holiday has proved a veteran leader for the team, winning both the 2025 NBA Sportsmanship and Social Justice awards, and plans to stick around per his four-year agreement. On the other hand, Porziņģis may opt to leave after his contract ends next season, especially if the team needs him to step up in minutes due to Tatum’s injury. Similarly, now seems like the right time to say goodbye to Al Horford, who will be turning 39 this June and is an unrestricted free agent for next season. While it pains me to throw Al under the bus after all he’s done for the Celtics during his seven seasons, Father Time is on his trail, and cutting Al’s annual $10 million will help the Celtics prioritize a long-term vision for the franchise.
Although releasing Porziņģis and Al would leave the Celtics with few “bigs,” there’s a great opportunity for 29-year-old, 7’1” center Luke Kornet to step up like he did against the Knicks (seven blocks in game five), and do not doubt that Brad Stevens and the Celtics front office will be able to find other young bigs who are hungry for a start on a good team and will accept a humble contract. Ultimately, although much is unknown with Tatum’s recovery and what the future of the team holds, the Celtics need to make big changes this offseason. Despite the wails of Celtics fans (including myself), letting go of Horford and Porziņģis might just be the best course of action to shed the $40 million from the salary cap and start fresh next year.
‘Office
Space’ is not headspace
In my last column, I examined one of my favorite films, “Gladiator,” regarding my concept of modern competition — how we have replaced fighting for our lives with competing academically. In another one of my favorite films, “Office Space,” protagonist Peter Gibbons articulates the idiocy of in-office competition in the ’90s.. Near the film’s climax, he shouts, “We don’t have a lot of time on this earth. We’re not meant to spend it this way. … I’m tired of being pushed around. Aren’t you?”
I am. We should not spend our precious time toiling away doing meaningless tasks, yet this mundane system is so deeply entrenched in our society and lives.
“When I was younger, I told my parents that I wanted to have a career that made a lot of money, even if the job was soulcrushing. I’m not so sure now. Based on how miserable I have been and what I have watched time and again in ‘Office Space,’ men and women can’t live like that. We just can’t live without any meaning.”
My theory of modern competition has been at the forefront of my life since I recently completed the history paper, profile and AP weeks. Besides the mental strain of being forced to unnecessarily compete, I feel extreme boredom at much of life due to the academic hoops to jump through. So does Peter Gibbons. He could not tell you what he does at Initech, a technology firm that makes no real difference in the world. Peter spends the majority of his work days staring mindlessly into space and doing nothing at all, but ironically, that is the actual equivalent of him completing the tasks from Initech. Because, no matter what he does, it makes no impact. And Peter is absolutely miserable being bored.
It all comes to a head when Peter goes to Dr. Swanson, a hypnotherapist, and tells him, “I was sitting in my cubicle today, and I realized, ever since I started working, every single day of my life has been worse than the day before it. So, that means that every single day that you see me, that’s on the worst day of my life.”
Swanson replies, “What about today? Is today the worst day of your life?” And when Peter answers in the affirmative, the hypnotherapist simply says, “Wow, that’s messed up.”
Yes, it is!
For me, “Office Space” summarizes my life as a student. Everything I do has absolutely zero impact on the world. Whether I do this or that … everything seems to be just to impress someone else. It’s challenging to find the motivation to do all the required work.
Working hard is important, but I’ve reached a point where I understand what it feels like when nothing seems to make a difference — and what it’s like to have just enough motivation to get by. When I was younger, I told my parents that I wanted to have a career that made a lot of money, even if the job was soul-crushing. I’m not so sure now. Based on how miserable I have been and what I have watched time and again in “Office Space,” men and women can’t live like that. We just can’t live without any meaning.
So, I now realize that if there must be a workplace, an “office space,” per se, it can’t be my whole life. It can’t be my headspace. This is what drove me to complete my Girl Scout Gold Award. I felt this crushing sense of misery and balanced it with the overwhelming fulfillment from making a true difference. I led a creative writing course at the Brighton Branch of the Boston Public Library to earn my Gold Award. One cannot wallow in the misery that sickens Peter. It’s unhealthy. But balance — that works wonders. That’s why Peter finds what makes him fulfilled and finally finds joy in his life. These are the conclusions I’ve come at the end of junior year: acceptance — as in, knowing when to succumb and submit to the situation — but also knowing where and how to find equilibrium between the misery of competition and true fulfillment. You could say these are just champagne problems (no, I am not quoting Taylor Swift) because it’s impossible for every little action to be life-changing. But whether it’s water or wine, I’m neither a glass half full nor a glass half empty kind of person. Rather, per Polish wisdom, I simply believe, instead: It’s just a glass of water.
Matthew Walsh
Matt’s Beantown Sports Beat
Caroline Dudzinski Caroline’s Classics
Sports
Knight Knocks
The spring sports season wraps up
Girls’ Varsity Track and Field
Aiming for records
“Zoe Li-Khan: New pole vault school record! Avery Hart: longest triple jump in school history!” You might have heard some of these phrases being tossed around in school and on Instagram, but what really happened in the Girls’ Varsity Track and Field season?
Co-Captain Zoe Li-Khan ’25 said the team improved, reaching new personal records.
“This season has been pretty good. We got third at the Independent School League Championships by one point, which was big for us, because that’s something we were hoping to place at. Our team’s been doing well, everyone’s been hitting PRs and the team’s been getting better.”
The team dealt with unexpected race and practice schedules.
“Some of the biggest difficulties we faced this season were just not having a lot of meets because of cancellations due to the rain and wind and our schedule,” she said. “Our team lost access to the track that we’ve practiced on. So, it’s been hard for us to practice because we switched to the Watertown track, but we’re only allowed to go twice a week. We’ve shown up multiple times and others have had track, so we haven’t been able to practice.”
Girls’ Varsity Tennis
Powered by ‘team spirit,’ Instagram support
Boys’ Varsity Lacrosse ‘Setting up for success’
The Boys’ Varsity Lacrosse (BVL) team started the season out hot. Winning their first two games, BVL faced the ninth best high school boys’ lacrosse team in the country — Dexter Southfield. The whole game was back and forth with each team racking up goals until it was 11-11 at the end of regulation.
In overtime, BVL lost 11-12. CoCaptain and goalie Phil Ellis ’25 said the game showed BVL’s identity.
“It was a tough loss, but we were showing really good signs for the rest of the season. Our defense and offense were both playing really well, and we had a strong motivation to stay in the game.”
After a solid start, BVL slumped, ending the season with a record of 4-9, Phil said.
“I would say that the mentality of the team sometimes let us down,” he said. “Sometimes, we lacked the passion of winning that we had at the start of the year. And I think that’s a piece that some people don’t realize is important. You have to just play hard the whole game, no matter what the score is.”
Attackman Jake Kavet ’27 saw value in the season.
“Getting some experience on our backs this season is going to be huge as we progress in these next two seasons,” he said. “Especially for the sophomore class and these younger guys, learning what it feels like to lose is very important. Understanding how desperate you feel when you want to win a game and how winning feels like the greatest thing ever. So, I think just looking into the future, this team is set up for success as we progress in the next couple years.”
An essential part of a successful team is having strong bonds within it. Even in tennis, which many consider an “individual sport,” positive team spirit is still what drives success.
“I don’t think we’ve faced too many challenges this season,” Girls’ Varsity Tennis (GVT) Co-Coach Sam Crihfield said. “The team, as a whole, from the very first moment from our trip, has come together really well and been a really positive team environment for everybody. Any difficult matches, we’ve made doable just by the team approach and the team spirit.”
GVT finished with a 12-4 record, placed third in the Independent School League (ISL) for the third year in a row and will likely have the ISL MVP again in Mia Andreoli ’27, Coach Crihfield said.
Because of strong competition in Class A, GVT barely missed the chance to make the New England Tournament, Coach Crihfield said.
“Sadly, in Class A, there’s so many good teams. We ended up being tenth, and eight teams got selected. Looking ahead to next year, we are hoping to increase the difficulty of the competition or schedule to hopefully put ourselves in a better position for the seeding because we believe that we’re right there with the other teams in Class A.”
Coach Crihfield was surprised by the GVT Instagram, he said.
“The thing that surprised me the most were the Instagram videos that the girls made me appear in. I learned we have a lot of followers, apparently.”
Varsity Baseball
Improving through teamwork, attitude
Throughout the Varsity Baseball (VB) team’s season, Co-Captain and pitcher Kenny Tsay ’25 found one thing to be the most rewarding: “Actually winning games,” he said.
At this time last year, VB only had three wins. Yet, only one year later, VB ended with a record of 11-8-1. Though losing out on making the top bracket of the playoffs because of a coin-flip, VB made it to the final of the second bracket thanks to a walk-off double against Middlesex from Co-Captain Brady MacCutcheon ’25. Kenny attributed some of the team’s success to the captains’ dedication.
“Our role as leaders helped us improve,” he said. “After coming off a season where you lose so much, you kind of lose that edge a little bit, you lose that feeling of winning. And so, we as captains and as seniors wanted to get back to that winning culture that BB&N used to have, especially as a baseball team. We had a team that won like 21 games 10 years ago. And ever since we’ve kind of been in the middle of a pack. We wanted to bring back that winning culture that we’ve been missing.”
Overscheduling tested the team.
“The biggest challenge for our team has been dealing with a number of games,” Kenny said. “There were moments where we didn’t practice enough, and so, it felt like we were unprepared for games. And there were weeks where we had like five games, and maybe we can add a couple JV games in there because it felt like we were being overplayed.”
Second baseman Langan Fisher ’27 agreed with Kenny.
“You can go from one game, have a lot of energy, and then if you lose, you still have to play again tomorrow. So, it’s about having the mindset of going in and forgetting about the result right after you play so that you can move on to the next game. Unlike a sport like football, where you play on Saturday, and then you get a whole week to think about it, we don’t have that time.” Langan’s favorite game was the first against Middlesex.
“Last year, we got beat by them,” he said. “Then, coming into this year, we really set the tone. If we lost that game, our season would’ve been completely different. How we played that game set the tone for the rest of the season, and we brought that same fight into the rest of the games we played.”
Staff Photo by Quentin Higgins BVL competes on Franke Field.
Photo Courtesy of Avery Hart Sydney Francis ’26 passes the baton to Mirabel Ge ’27 during the 400-meter relay.
Staff Photo by Olivia Richter Abby Brown ’26 warms up for a match against Lawrence Academy.
Staff Photo by Quentin Higgins Kenny Tsay ’25 pitches on Nichols Field.
,
Girls varsity
Karen Read: Tried in the court of public opinion
Hockey
As I stood on the sidewalk outside 34 Fairview Road, I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was doing something wrong. The two-story house was dark blue with brick lining the ground level. A white Mazda sat in the driveway. The spacious front lawn was browning, evidence of the snowbanks that once lined the curb. Perhaps the most important detail was a bare flagpole on the left corner closest to the street. Not a sound left the peaceful-looking home on this Wednesday morning in Canton. The quaint, unassuming drive wouldn’t turn a passerby’s head, but to me, the scene was riveting.
In the early morning of Jan. 29, 2022, 34 Fairview was anything but peaceful. Sirens echoed through the falling snow, and drunken partygoers clawed at the scraps of their memories to piece together the night. At 4 a.m., Karen Read awoke in a haze. Her boyfriend, Boston police officer John O’Keefe, was missing. She called two friends from the night before, and they set out to look for him. In the midst of a New England blizzard, they returned to where they had left him just hours earlier. Read leapt from the car and ran to O’Keefe’s body, lying in a snowbank next to the flagpole. With a broken taillight on her car and angry voicemails she’d left O’Keefe the night before, Read was charged with second-degree murder of O’Keefe.
Now, almost three and a half years later, I stood where O’Keefe once lay. I couldn’t help but question whether my presence was invasive. The homeowner, Brian Albert, who had invited Read and O’Keefe to the party that night, has since sold the house. Had O’Keefe never died, I might have heard the bark of the Alberts’ German shepherd, Chloe. But Chloe was sent to Vermont soon after the incident. That, along with scratches on John’s arm, supported the defense’s claim that he hadn’t been struck by Karen’s car but had been attacked by the people inside the house and left to die in the cold. Details such as a 2 a.m. Google search from inside the house (“hos [sic] long to die in the cold”) corroborated their argument. Oh, and that Brian Higgins, another partygoer, destroyed his phone at a military base just months after the events.
“People glorify these grave trials like sporting events. They create hashtags, line streets and send death threats, affecting our justice system. It sways juries. It makes people fall in love with accused murderers.”
So, did Karen Read drunkenly back into O’Keefe in a fit of rage? Or was it something deeper? Honestly, I don’t know. Neither did the jury in her 2024 trial. As many murder trials go, this one was messy. Text messages, testimony, conflicting narratives: The whole thing was a tangle. The defense claimed that O’Keefe was killed by someone at the party and that the Canton Police Department framed Read. This was fueled by the public’s perception of police misconduct.
Public attention exploded when Aidan Kearney, known as “Turtleboy” to his Twitch stream, became Read’s biggest advocate. Soon, the “Free Karen Read” slogan took the internet by storm. Each day, pinkclad (Karen’s favorite color) supporters lined the courtroom steps holding signs and chanting, “Free Karen Read.” Their voices echoed through the courthouse as the jury deliberated.
Public opinion plays a powerful role in the courtroom. Remember O.J.? Although there was significant evidence suggesting Simpson had murdered his ex-wife, Nicole Brown, the trial occurred shortly after the Rodney King beating and the LA riots. Public anger over police brutality and racial injustice influenced how people interpreted the case. The trial became less about guilt or innocence and more about racial tensions and systemic bias. When Simpson was acquitted, crowds ran through the streets, screaming and crying with jubilation. The verdict was a rare victory against a biased system.
Soon after, the same district attorney, Gil Garcetti, prosecuted the Menendez brothers, who were accused of killing their wealthy parents. The public adored the Menendezes: two clean-cut young men claiming abuse. Their emotional testimonies led to a hung jury in the first trial. However, Garcetti banned cameras from the courtroom during the retrial. Without the media spectacle, the second jury quickly sentenced them to life without parole.
People glorify these grave trials like sporting events. They create hashtags, line streets and send death threats, affecting our justice system. It sways juries. It makes people fall in love with accused murderers. So, maybe I, standing here at 34 Fairview, was unethical. But I also think public pressure is necessary for change. The public outcry after Rodney King’s beating forced the nation to confront police violence in a way that couldn’t be ignored. These trials of individual defendants have served to bring attention to broader societal issues, such as racism and police conduct, and though they have had the fallout of influencing individual verdicts, it may be worth it.
More than a guest: Sampha and André 3000
Across the wide realm of music, some artists’ contributions to others’ songs – called features – outweigh their own work. Certain artists use features from specific artists to fill a hole in their skillset, whether it be an eloquent singer needing someone to add some tough, fast raps or a rapper needing a smooth voice to soothe the listener. The two artists I get the most excited to see next to a track’s title are Sampha and André 3000.
Sampha adds smooth harmonic vocals to songs of artists who may lack his impressive singing ability. The prime example is his almost twoand-a-half-minute outro to Kanye “Ye” West’s track “Saint Pablo.” The track is one of Ye’s most vulnerable and introspective tracks. He talks about his flawed journey through his career and dealing with fame, drawing a parallel between him and Saint Paul (hence the track name), a biblical figure chosen by God despite plenty of flaws. However, Ye can only preach so much of this message through his modern rap style. He calls up Sampha to finish the song, and Sampha comes through, belting out more Christian lyrics. Sampha singing with such passion on another artist’s song makes me feel like I’m sitting in an empty church, listening to a preacher. His preaching isn’t annoying or out of place; it complements Ye’s message and adds another layer to the complexity of the track. Although Ye gets vulnerable through his raps and wordplay on the track, he fortifies his openness with Sampha’s intensity. Sampha alone makes this one of my go-to Ye tracks.
“That’s the beauty of the feature: An artist can succeed experimenting with new sounds, rhythms or beats just by asking for help.”
My other favorite Sampha contribution is on Kendrick Lamar’s “Father Time.” Sampha repeats a specific refrain throughout the song and ends the track with a memorable outro backed by a distorted, crying voice. He sings like in “Saint Pablo,” where his smooth, elegant voice breaks up Kendrick Lamar’s rhyming raps. As Lamar describes his tough-love relationship with his father, Sampha enforces K-Dot’s message with his repeated line, “Early mornin’ wake-ups, practicin’ on dayoffs. Tough love, bottled up, no chaser / Neat.” My favorite thing about Sampha’s contributions in both songs is that he allows two rap-centric artists to use softer and wavier beats and melodies. Both “Saint Pablo” and “Father Time” might feel awkward and incomplete as simple rap songs with avant-garde beats without an eloquent voice anchoring their verses in an exploratory track. Sampha has released two solo albums, but in my opinion, his contributions to other artists’ tracks far outweigh his unaccompanied work. When an artist drops an album, and Sampha is listed as a feature, I always jump to listen to it first.
Don’t take this the wrong way, but I also feel the same about André 3000. This doesn’t discredit the immense effect on hip-hop and rap he made with Outkast, but to my ears, he contributes more to the modern music scene through his features. André’s effect on music differs in many ways from Sampha’s, but the two share some similarities. First, their solo discography. André is one of the most influential artists in rap, both by himself and with Big Boi in Outkast, whereas Sampha rarely releases solo works. However, I still enjoy André’s features more than his music even though it’s not what he is known for. His two collaborations with Frank Ocean, “Pink Matter” and “Solo (Reprise),” top the list. In “Pink Matter,” he and Ocean reverse roles from how artists use Sampha’s features; André’s verse over a punchy, in-your-face bass-line serves as a choppy, rhymefilled companion to Ocean’s earlier wavy singing and preaching.
On “Solo (Reprise),” one of “Blonde’s” four interlude tracks (See Vol. 54, Issue 1 to read about my take on “Blonde”), André is the sole voice heard in the 1:18-minute runtime. André interrupts the smooth and wavy melodies of the first nine tracks with sudden and sharp lyrics over a vibrant yet despondent piano melody and a high-pitched tone in the background. Had this track been Ocean rapping and using wordplay like André, it wouldn’t fit the album’s vibe; it would be jarring to go from Frank’s beautiful rollercoaster of “Nights” to him rapping on “Solo Reprise.” Instead, the use of André, an artist who is more accustomed to rap, makes the sudden increase of pace less jarring. Running into André’s voice in “Solo (Reprise)” while listening to “Blonde” gives the listener a refreshing break.
Artists use André 3000’s and Sampha’s different styles – smooth rap and melodic vocals — in alternate ways. That’s the beauty of the feature: An artist can succeed experimenting with new sounds, rhythms or beats just by asking for help. Features appear in our lives, too — asking for help on something you’re lacking in or experimenting with isn’t shameful: It’s admirable.
Louisa Kirk kirk off the record
ClayFM
Yes, and... US, MS students star in improv group
Yancheng Zhao Managing Editor
Acting out a historical retelling of the war between two families of marshmallows, the cast of Improv Jones lunged forward with an imaginary spear at others curled up in a ball. Upper School (US) and Middle School (MS) students took the stage May 23 at Regent Theater in Arlington in the closing show of Improv Jones.
MS Drama Teacher Christa Crewdson started the group 15 years ago when she first came to the school. Improvisation is a form of live theater where most or all that is performed is created spontaneously without a script. Composed of eighth to 12th-grade students from the school, Improv Jones rehearses every Wednesday in the US Community Room, which Ms. Crewdson rents from the school. Performances take place monthly at the Regent Theater on Friday nights.
During the hour-long show, the improvisers ran through a series of games, each containing an element of audience participation. For example, in the game where Matthias Paulson ’26 was giving a history presentation, it was an attendee who suggested the topic of marshmallows.
Previously, Ms. Crewdson led various improv groups for both adults and teenagers, so, when she moved to Boston, she wanted to start one close by. Improv Jones started
as the junior version of Ms. Crewdson’s Improv Jones Boston, which has since been incorporated into The Riot Theater Company. She co-directs the teen troupe with her fellow Improv Jones Boston actor, Steve Marrota.
Justin Hildebrandt ’27 said he enjoys doing improv because it allows him to be creative without having to face judgment.
“I really enjoy being able to do silly things without having to think about it and being able to do whatever I want.”
Improv has bettered his public speaking and confidence in making the most out of a situation, he said.
“The quintessential improv thing is ‘Yes, and. …’ It’s about being able to take what someone gives you and being able to make something out of it.”
Justin was surprised by the difficulty when he first started, he said.
“I feel like it was definitely a steep learning curve, especially for how to be able to hold a scene. I came into it thinking, ‘Oh, this is like, easy,’ but being on the stage and actually having to do it felt a lot harder.”
Improvising is a valuable skill to have, Ms. Crewdson said.
“I know that at BB&N, there’s four million projects where you have to stand up and talk in front of people, so I hope that helps them feel more comfortable.”
Improv also gives students a way to blow off steam.
“Everybody spends a lot of time in academics, and there’s a lot of work, so this is something that doesn’t feel like it’s pressure,” Ms. Crewdson said. “It’s just for fun and having a good time.”
The group also enables MS students to see some familiar faces when they come to the US, she said.
“I think it’s neat, too, especially for the younger members, that they get to know some older members, so that when they see them in the hallways at the Upper School, … they feel like they know a couple of people, which I think is important.”
The group gives Ms. Crewdson a way to stay connected with her former students. While the group used to contain students from other schools, since COVID-19, it has only had students from the school.
“It’s been great because kids who
Resilient Voices
I teach here at the Middle School, who I would probably never see again until high school graduation, I get to still hang out with them and get to see them grow up,” she said. “It’s fun to be able to still connect to students that I got to work with.”
At Boston Latin, where Ms. Crewdson used to teach, she led a drama club for students from eighth to 12th grade. Now at a school with a separate MS and US campus, she saw a need to create something similar.
“From eighth grade all the way to 12th grade, I got to keep working with them. When I got to BB&N, I’m like, ‘Oh, I only get to work with these kids for two years. That’s a bummer.’ I was used to working with kids for so much longer, so that’s why I started the teen troupe here.”
Founded by Nejma Reza ’23, Resilient Voices is an annual production providing a platform for students of color to express themselves. This year, Upper School students contributed artwork, musical performances, poetry and dancing to the May 15 show organized by Rockie Yewendwossen ’25. —Gabe Cooper ’26
Staff Photo by Yancheng Zhao
Salar Sekhavat ’26, Justin Hildebrandt and Gordon Miller (both ’27) attempt to ward off Evelyn Marks’ ’29 deadly bad breath performing with Improv Jones at the Regent Theater.
Staff Photos by Olivia Richter
Notable
Quotables
“The sun is the only thing keeping me alive right now.”
—Lexi Nicholas ’26
“Oh, my god. That tres leches cake has 100 grams of sugar!”
—Will Sammons ’27, on Crumbl Cookies
“I’m a mature man, that’s why I deserve a —Idygirlfriend.” Fall ’27
Tariffs, tariffs and guess what? More tariffs!
The College Board is out to get President Trump. If you took the AP Macroeconomics exam earlier this month and were able to focus on anything but the brown mouse darting around the Community Room, you might’ve realized that the exam writers took some not-so-subtle shots at Trump’s tariffs.
The Free Response section of the exam mentioned the storied nation of Vortania: a country whose government decided to upend their free-trade relationship with their neighbor, Rhodara, by instituting new tariffs on imports. Exam takers then drew graphs showing Vortanian exports tumbling, domestic employment nosediving and real GDP plummeting. The people of Vortania became unhappy at having to pay more; the central bank adjusted monetary policy accordingly.
Sound familiar? Recently, at the Upper School, we discussed Trump’s reciprocal tariffs in shared advisories. Reception was mixed. I hear some groups skipped the Kahoot to watch “High School Quiz Show.” My advisory chose to wax poetic about Jayson Tatum after his Achilles tear — the real American crisis, if you ask me — rather than drone on about the 145% tariff on Chinese goods.
See, most people feel that tariffs — especially those presented by Trump as he beams at a cardboard chart of all the havoc he plans to wreak — are bad but don’t really know why. In the limited bits of productive conversation that Dr. Scrivner and Ms. Agostinelli were able to coax out from students mourning the Celtics’ back-to-back title hopes, one thing stood out: Teenagers, like their parents, aren’t happy about paying more for previously-cheap SHEIN clothes. I guess “protecting American domestic production” means less to people when their pockets get lighter and lighter, and that new handbag just looks too good to pass up.
“At this point, bring on the tariffs! Then, at least, I can plan to pivot to a hearty American breakfast instead of that expensive Canadian stuff.”
On top of that, the adults in the room don’t like the uncertainty and volatility Trump’s tariffs have brought to the table. I’d like to know if the price of the maple syrup for my morning pancakes is going up or down. Is it going to cost $10 like usual, or am I going to pay twice as much in duties? In this vein, I ask that President Trump make up his mind. Either make and keep them, or forget about them as a whole. At this point, bring on the tariffs! Then, at least, I can plan to pivot to a hearty American breakfast instead of that expensive Canadian stuff. Guess I’ll just listen to the President, who tells me to “EAT THE TARIFFS!”
“Let’s tell students to go down a rabbit hole!”
—Sonja Peetz-Larsen ’26
“Can they actually fit in a rabbit hole?”
—Vartan Arakelian ’26
Back to Econ 101, though. One of the first things you learn in any introductory macro class is that, generally, trade is good. It’s not hard to understand. If someone else can make something faster, better or more efficiently than you can, maybe it’s better to buy it cheaply from them rather than burn resources trying to do it yourself. Tariffs make it harder to buy cheaply from someone else. They could be useful if you’re trying to protect an infant industry or protect production critical to national security. Guess how Trump’s using them, though? Certainly not in a productive way. Instead, his “Liberation Day” blanket tariffs imposed a 10% tax on anything and everything from some of our most common trade partners. You pay more, I pay more, we all pay more! Democracy!
I’m no expert economist, so take everything I just said with a massive grain of salt. I’ll admit that I’m also guilty of tuning out the tariff talk whenever mentioned. I have zero clue about which countries we’ve paused tariffs on and which ones we’re still tariffing. It’s some confusing stuff.
I wish I could sever my consciousness into two: a tariff-conscious version capable of critical thinking about this stuff and another AP-exhausted, early-onset-senioritis-infected alter-ego. Alas, I cannot. However, the Econ exam and I can tell you that perhaps dangling blanket tariffs over your citizens’ heads isn’t the “4-D chess” move that our nation’s brilliant QAnon economists would like you to believe.
If high schoolers with less than a year of economics knowledge can tell you that sweeping reciprocal tariffs aren’t the best idea, perhaps our Wharton-educated president should be able to as well.
you-yan wang wang weighs in
Photos Courtesy of Yoyo Zou, Colin Hoffman, Charlotte Pojasek, Christine Tao, and Nathan Ma.
